URL Structure Over the past couple of years I seem to paste the Google Webmaster URL structure link more than any other link! Google Webmaster URL STRUCTURE Google say they prefer domain.com/perfect-keyword-phrase That's domain.com/red-dress not domain.com/reddress Now think about this logically and also bear in mind printed stationary and the HUMAN eye and mind Controversy begins here!!! If Googlebot finds it easier to read domain.com/blue-dress as opposed to domain.com/bluedress logic should tell us that vetskill.com is misleading (and very funny - though Vets do put a lot of animals down for various reasons LOL) whereas they would have been better off with vet-skill.com Here is a list that should put a smile on your face > ExpertsExchange.com –> ExpertSexchange.com WhoRepresents.com –> WhorePresents.com TherapistFinder.com –> TheRapistFinder.com PenIsland.net –> PenisLand.net ChooseSpain.com –> ChoosesPain.com GoTahoe.com –> GotAHoe.com PenIsMightier.com –> PenisMightier.com PowergenItalia.com –> PowerGenitalia.com MoleStationNursery.com –> MolestationNursery.com KeywordsExtractor.com –> KeywordSexTractor.com BigAlsOnline.com –> BiGalsOnline.com PotsOfArt.com –> PotsoFart.com AlterScrap.com –> AltersCrap.com ViaGrafix.com –> ViagraFix.com Did you know a hyphenated domain is also better for printed matter like Business cards and stationary? Let the arguments begin as I know many many people disagree with my views and logic on hyphens in the actual domain name. And just to make sure you do get to smile, here is a list of hilarious madness domain names that must confuse the heck out of Googlebot etc > http://www.webhostingsearch.com/articles/strange-and-funny-domain-names.php
I for one agree with you on using hyphens in both the main domain name and internal pages. Servers replace spaces in the web address with %20, most browsers also can direct to the correct page. I am sure we all came across such URLs at one time or another. It just so happens that Google's bot can determine a hyphen to be a space thus making it easier to determine the keyword, resulting in determining the content of the page well before reading the actual page contents. Read http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=76329 which is straight from the horses mouth in regards to what they prefer to see. Makes sense to me Cheers
makes sense to mo me to everypcneed - neveretheless I have PM'ed Canonica,l RE this, who has a distinct difference of opinion on this subject and we respectfully debate the subject previously, now and no doubt in the future, in order to get a goog hang on things ...
Hello... Got the PM. I've been playing around w/ XAMPP and Joomla. LOL Well, Revelations-Decoder I'm sure knows by how I feel about the subject of hyphens in URLs. If you'll notice, the Google link about URL structure mentions absolutely nothing about the domain name portion of the URL. All of their examples have to do with the path (folder name, page name, querystring) portion of the URL. IMO it's typically best to NOT use hyphens in the domain portion of the URL (there is one exception listed at the end of my blog post above). I feel pretty sure that my-keyword-phrase.com will rank equally the same as mykeywordphrase.com. Google can easily find exact matches in domain names whether they have hyphens or not... They were doing it before people even started using hyphens. It hasn't been that long ago that domains never had hyphens. People are accustomed to domains with no hyphens. Instead, I avoid using hyphens in the domain name because I think it is better from a user perspective. It keeps the domain name short, easy to type, and easy to remember. Your domain name (home page URL) is probably the most likely URL on your site that a user will remember. Adding hyphens makes it longer, harder to type, harder to say out loud to people (my hyhpen keyword hyphen phrase dot com instead of my keyword phrase dot com), harder to remember, etc... However, I DO advocate ALWAYS separating keyword phrases in the folder and page name portions of URLs with hyphens. NEVER use underscores or spaces in folder and page names. Hyphens make it a little easier for the engines to parse the URL for keywords from the search phrase. But again, more importantly they make it easy for the user to read the folder and page names for instance when it is shown in the SERPs. But that's just my opinion... my preference... my point of view. I also avoid using .net, .info, etc. I'd rather have a .com with a less desirable domain name than a .net or .info that is keyword rich because I believe users see .com domains as more legitimate and therefore have a higher click-thru-rate than other TLDs in the SERPs. But agian... that's just me!
Not to argue on the topic, but this topic is about what the SEs find easier to parse. I for one would not like to end up like the examples provided in the first post. Gee-whiz that would be embarrassing. Does it not make sense to buy the domain name with and without the hyphens? 301 redirect the URL without the hyphen to the domain name with the hyphen until such a time the server logs shows the domain without the hyphens is no longer needed? Or just keep it. I do this for a couple of the sites I have. Takes care of the issue of making it easier on the end user and passing the information around via word of mouth. I mean you said it when you stated "Hyphens make it a little easier for the engines to parse the URL for keywords from the search phrase." That is the main reason for using hyphens is it not? Would it not be reasonable to assume this also applies to the domain name itself and not just to everything after the first / ? I believe using hyphens in the domain name comes down to a personal choice. But I am sure you all will agree that in the following example (thanks Revelations-Decoder for the examples), using the hyphen in the domain name would ensure your site and its content was not mistaken for something completely off topic... TherapistFinder.com TheRapistFinder.com Therapist-Finder.com Cheers!
The examples that Revelation-Decoder gave have been around for a long time... and the cases where that happen are like one in a million. Why hyphenate domain names that are NOT one of those one in a million cases? Are you saying it's better to make the URL longer, harder to type, harder to remember 999,999 times out of 1,000,000 unnecessarily JUST so you don't make a mistake one in a million times? Can't you LOOK at your domain name and tell whether it could be interpretted a different way that might not be good (like related to sex or porn and you're NOT a porn site)? Don't build your "rules" or guidelines for selecting good domain names around the VERY rare exception... Base them around what is "generally" best... the rule, not the exception. Even if 1 in 10 domains could be interpretted negatively without hyphens, I would STILL select domain names without hyphens 9 times out of the 10... and then in the SINGLE case where it's a problem THEN I would use hyphens. But generally speaking, it's better to not have hyphens in the domain name. They add nothing from an SEO perspective and create lots of negatives from a user perspective. If you think about it, the only time that keywords in the domain name add a significant boost to rankings is if the domain EXACTLY matches the search phrase. In other words, you get a huge boost if someone searches for "my keyword phrase" and your domain is mykeywordphrase.com or my-keyword-phrase.com. Think about how VERY easy it is for Google to look for exact match domains... The user searches for my keyword phrase. So how hard is it "really" to look for exact match domains? Take the user's search phrase (eg. my keyword phrase), remove all spaces from the search phrase (mykeywordphrase), and check to see if any domains in the index match the remainder + a TLD (mykeywordphrase.TLD). Take the user's search phrase (eg. my keyword phrase), replace all spaces with a hyphen (my-keyword-phrase), and check to seen if any domains in the index match the remainder + a TLD (my-keyword-phrase.TLD). That is a piece of cake... If the domain name is NOT an exact match for the search phrase then partial matches in the domain name carry little if any more weight than do any type of matches (partial or full) in the path (folder names and page name) portion of the URL. People are RARELY going to remember URLs for your inner pages unless it's something like example.com/blog. But they will never remember example.com/mortgage-loans/calculators/rent-or-buy-calculator.com. So the fact that hyphens make the path portion (folders and page name) of the URL longer is generally irrelevant from a user perspective. You can do what you want. I don't really care to try to convince you. I have no stake in your business or domains. I'm just sharing with you my logic behind avoiding them in domains and using them in the path of the URL.
Hey Canonical - can you see why I am suggesting that if Googlebot finds it easier to read domain.com/green-dress as opposed to domain.com/greendress then logically surely the same thing has to apply to the actual domain name to. That's one issue why I prefer hyphens. The next is printed matter like stationary and business cards. It is easier to read when a hyphen is in place when it comes to actual hard copy versions of things. I think also the only up point the likes of vetskill.com get is the comedic attention. Not sure if that comedic attention does the likes any good though as the traffic is likely pretty useless and just costing them rather than converting if you get my drift?
Hahahaha love the list of domains! Too funny. I agree that hyphens are definitely the way to go for URL paths. In the domain name itself, probably overkill. Also hyphenated domains may discourage repeat customers; people tend to forget if there are hyphens or where the hyphens go.